Prime Ministers Come and Go, the Community Remains

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

The Albanian community in Michigan quietly learned of Prime Minister Rama’s visit to Michigan. Edi Rama is not coming to Michigan at a normal political moment. He is coming after more than 13 years in power and already in his fourth term as prime minister. He is coming here after a total collapse of the economy and welfare of Albanians, of public order, of the fight against government and administrative corruption, and after a failure in foreign policy, especially regarding Kosovo. He is coming to Michigan after 1.3 million Albanians, dissatisfied with life in Albania, have left the country in 13 years. Edi Rama is coming to Michigan after more than 110 days of daily protests against his government, in which protesters have demanded the resignation of Rama and the government.

Against this backdrop of Rama’s governance, people here rightly ask on what civic morality and normal logic a handful of Albanians in Michigan have taken it upon themselves to welcome Edi Rama — and moreover to speak on behalf of the Albanian community of Michigan — when the way the meeting is organized stands in stark contrast to this claim of representation.

The meeting was not announced publicly to the community and was not organized as an open-door event. Invitations were distributed selectively, mostly to individuals the organizers consider sympathizers or supporters of the Socialist Party and Edi Rama.

There are many reports that some of those invited hesitated to take part or did not respond to the invitations, while the organizers kept calling them repeatedly, to the point of annoyance. Others were pressured to take part, told they must come. There are rumors that up to $1,000 was offered to attend the meeting.

Even more serious are the cases of pressure and threats against some of Edi Rama’s opponents, aimed at stopping them from protesting, speaking or writing against him on social media.

Dear organizers of the reception, if the meeting is a party affair, call it a party affair. If you are organizing a private reception, call it a private reception. But if you announce that the Prime Minister of Albania is coming, you cannot select the participants according to political beliefs, invite one part and leave out another. You cannot organize Edi Rama’s reception away from the public eye and then sell the event as a “meeting with the Albanian community of Michigan.”

The Albanian community is not a guest list. The community includes both those who applaud Edi Rama and those who protest against him. No one — neither the organizers of the reception nor the organizers of the protest — has a monopoly on representing Michigan’s Albanians.

That is why my advice to them is this: open all the halls of the Marriott Hotel into one, welcome 2,000 Albanians there — the Prime Minister belongs to everyone. Each has their own questions, and Edi Rama must have the courage and ability to answer them.

Rama’s arrival in Michigan cannot be reduced to photographs, applause and a half-hall of handpicked people for fawning. If he comes as the Prime Minister of Albania, he comes also before the Albanians who disagree with his governance.

I personally contacted one of the organizers and asked to take part — I have my own questions too. But I received no invitation. Why are they afraid of questions?! We who have lived in America for decades have learned that you don’t need to exclude or silence an opponent to defend your beliefs.

You organizers of the reception enjoy the goods and democracy of America, but on the other hand you apply Albanian standards of politics. That is why it is not only Edi Rama’s governance that is fueling the protest, but also your manner of reception and organization. While you divide the Albanian community in two, you forget that in America you don’t need to ask permission from an Albanian party to speak, you don’t need to be afraid to write against a Prime Minister, and you don’t need to think twice before going out to protest with a banner.

On Sunday at 4 p.m., outside the hall where Edi Rama will be welcomed by his supporters, there will also be another part of the community, perhaps larger, that has chosen not to stay silent. They may have 1,001 more reasons to protest than those driven by pride, servility or interest in a position here, in Pukë or elsewhere. If inside the hall Rama will hear applause, from outside it he will hear a rich vocabulary of opposing voices and banners. In the end, this is not a taboo but democracy.

However, dear friends, beyond the poor organization and selective reception, the target of the protest must be Edi Rama and his governance, not the Albanian who walks into the hall to meet him. Likewise, no one who enters that hall should consider an enemy the Albanian standing outside with a banner.

Among Michigan’s Albanians there must be a red line: no threats, no pressure, no provocations, no personal insults, no physical conflict. Criticize Rama harshly, not the Albanian across from you; curse Rama, but don’t curse the Albanian across from you. We can be political opponents without becoming human enemies.

Edi Rama may be interested in dividing our community in Michigan, but our community must at all costs avoid importing into Michigan the political conflict and polarization of Albania.

For decades, Michigan’s Albanians have lived in a harmony that Albanian politics has often failed to create. We did not come to America to bring with us Albania’s political enmities. We came to build a better life and community according to a new American culture.

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

On Monday, Rama leaves, but we remain here. That is what we must remember on Sunday. On Monday we will again be neighbors. We will meet in the same churches and mosques, at national holidays, festivals, Albanian schools, weddings and family celebrations. Our children grow up together. Our businesses work together. When an Albanian family is in need, we rarely ask whether it is socialist or democrat. That is a wealth we must not lose for any politician.

Let whoever wishes welcome Rama. Let whoever wishes protest against him. Let us debate as much as we want about politics, the government and Albania’s future; let us disagree in opinion, but not as Albanians. That is why a few-hour political visit is not worth destroying relationships built over decades. Albania has enough political conflict; we don’t need to import it into Michigan.

Because on Monday, when the cameras are off, when the meeting is over, when the protest has dispersed and Edi Rama has left Michigan, we will continue to live here, next to one another.

Prime ministers come and go. The community remains.